Madrid Spain Masters: PV Sindhu, Ashwini/Tanisha storm in quarters

Star Indian shuttler PV Sindhu continued her impressive run while Ashwini Ponnappa/Tanisha Crasto strengthened their 2024 Paris Olympics chances by reaching the quarter-final of the Madrid Spain Masters on Thursday.

PV Sindhu defeated Chinese Taipei's Huang Yu-Hsun and Ashwini/Tanisha defeated Tiffany Ho and Gronya Somerville of Australia.

Sindhu had an easy win against Yu-Hsun as she started well in the first game. Despite slumping to a couple of net errors and trailing 10-11 at the mid-game break, Sindhu came back roaring and took six consecutive points.

A net error from Yu-Hsun meant that Sindhu won the second game 21-14.

In the second game, Yu-Hsun struggled to control the shuttle as her lifts repeatedly went long. The Taiwanese shuttler tried to use her drops and placements but she didn't have power in her smashes.

Sindhu took advantage of her errors and secured her quarter-final berth. She will play Supanida Katethong of Thailand in the next round.

World no. 20 pair of Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa, seeded third, made it to the last eight after notching up a 21-14 21-8 win over in women's doubles.

This win means Ashwini/Tanisha have strengthened their chances further for the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympics in the women's doubles category.

India's MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila also had a good day in the office as they entered the men's doubles quarterfinal with a 21-17 21-19 win over Scotland's Christopher Grimley and Matthew Grimley.

The mixed doubles pair of B Sumeeth Reddy and N Sikki Reddy also entered the quarterfinals with a 22-20 21-18 win over USA's Presley Smith and Allison Lee.

Krishna Prasad Garage and Sai Pratheek K, however, were left heartbroken after losing 16-21 21-15 16-21 to the Popov brothers -- Christo and Toma Junior -- in another men's doubles match.